The tournament named after Arsenal star Alessia Russo kicks off on Friday, 6th November – with the hope of promoting participation in football for girls.
The Alessia Cup is supported by Sky Sports, the Alessia Russo Foundation and UK charity Goals 4 Girls, and intends to build confidence, resilience, and leadership beyond the pitch, while highlighting the importance of keeping girls engaged in sport during adolescence.
The alliance was launched after a Public First report commissioned by Sky: Game Changing: How sport gives every girl a better chance, found that playing sport in childhood is as strong an indicator of women reaching senior career positions as a university degree.
However, girls aged 11 to 18 miss out on a collective 280 million hours of sport annually compared to their male counterparts.
Dana Strong, group CEO of Sky, said in September: “By age 11, nearly one in three girls stop believing sport is for them – proven not to be just a personal loss, but a national one. Broadcasters like Sky have a crucial role to play in driving access and visibility of women’s sport, but this alone won’t close the gap. We need to break down the barriers that tell young girls they don’t belong. With bold investment and collaborative action across government, education, and media, we can build a future where every girl is welcomed to the game.”
What is the Alessia Russo Foundation?
The Alessia Russo Foundation is newly launched, with the mission of helping girls reach their potential on and off the field.
It is Russo’s next step to support young women and sporting participation, following on from the Lionesses’ open letter in 2022 to Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, then candidates for the leadership of the Conservative Party, asking them to commit to ensuring that girls in primary school had two hours of physical education per week as well as the support and guidance of trained female teachers.
They pointed out at the time that only 63 per cent of girls of that age had the chance to play football in school.
